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As you all know, I try to cover gear-related topics on this site too. I play guitars myself and, in the last few years, I’ve gotten into home recording as well. One tradition I’ve started a while back, and am continuing with this post, is an annual summary of the gear I’ve purchased. It allows me to share my feedback with you all, but I can also look back and analyze how much each purchase was utilized. These things are helpful to make more informed decisions.

All in all, I think I resisted impulse purchases much better than I had in any previous year. I became a little more focused on my musical goals and thought more about what I wanted to do with my music and guitar playing.

That said, let’s talk gear!

Schecter Riot 5:

This year, I finished my first song with vocals on it. The music and lyrics were all mine, but I didn’t sing. I hired an excellent pro to do it. You can find the song here. Along with having vocals, this song also was the first time I ever played bass! I’d always programmed them before. That’s what I was going to do on this one too, but my guitar teacher, who is more of a musical coach to me these days, suggested I try playing the bass myself. I was saving up for another guitar but changed my mind and decided to get a bass instead. I figured it was worth a shot!

I picked this bass because it just looked stunning, and the demos I checked out on YouTube checked all the boxes in terms of tonal versatility. Seriously, you can play whatever you want with it! I went with the 5-string version because I don’t plan on accumulating too many basses. So, I needed to have that extra string if I composed songs that required it in the future.

I did a video playing Megadeth’s Dawn Patrol. If you want to check that out, you can find it here.

I must be honest; I don’t consider myself a bassist. I’m a guitar player trying to play the bass on his songs. Maybe I’ll play some covers here and there, but I bought the Schecter Riot primarily for my songs. I still play with a pick. It helps the bass cut through in the mix a bit better when I play metal. But I want to learn how to play with the fingers too. The pick doesn’t sound right if you’re playing something less heavy. I already tried it, but it’s not as easy as some professionals make it look!

Finally, I’ll say this. It is a massive boost in creativity and inspiration when you pick up a new instrument. If you are a guitarist and you’ve been on the fence about playing bass, I’d highly recommend it!

LTD Deluxe Viper 1000:

I’ve always loved ESP’s interpretation of the iconic SG shape. The asymmetry makes it look much cooler. I wasn’t planning to buy a new guitar around the time I got this, but I saw a used one on Guitar Center, and the price was too compelling to pass. The guitar seemed to be in great shape. So, I went for it.

I had it professionally set up when it arrived, and it’s now also tuned down to D Standard. It’s my only guitar with that tuning for now. The body shape is really comfortable. It sits nicely on your lap when you play sitting down. I haven’t played it standing up yet. The scale length is a little smaller than I’m used to. I believe this one is 24.75 inches. Most guitars I have are around 25.5 or so. So, it was a bit of an adjustment for me in that sense. But once I got used to it and accepted it as a different instrument, I really started to enjoy it. I’m keeping it as my D Standard guitar for now.

The pickups sound good. The Seymour Duncan Pegasus in the bridge, in particular, works excellent in high gain tones. I’ve got to explore some more sounds to really gauge how much I like them, though.

This was a risky buy as I had never tried one before purchasing, but so far, I like it!

Bose S1 Pro

Since I have a few amp modelers, I’ve also tried a few FRFR speakers. I’m a huge fan of Atomic CLRs and the Friedman ASM series. I have both and use them frequently. But their size is rather large (especially the Friedman is quite heavy!) so I also bought a smaller HeadRush 108. It’s much more compact and comes at a much cheaper price. It, naturally, doesn’t sound as good as some of the others I mentioned, but you can’t really expect that from this price point anyway. I think it does what it does rather well. But all this experience with a smaller FRFR made me want to try another one.

This time, I went with a Bose S1 Pro. The benefit of this unit is that it can serve multiple purposes. Yes, it can absolutely perform as a speaker for your modeler. I don’t know if you can technically call this an FRFR; but regardless of what you can call it, I can tell you that it’ll work quite well with whatever modeler you’ve got. It sounds quite good too!

But the biggest benefit you get with this unit is that it can be used without a power supply. It’s got it own internal battery. I love that I can just take it anywhere and as long as I have a place to plug in my modeler, I’m good to go. I don’t need to worry about the S1 Pro. Another benefit is that because it’s a Bluetooth speaker, I can easily play a track on my phone and play along to it on my guitar. You have separate volume controls, so you can easily control how loud you want your guitars to be alongside the track you’re playing.

Fractal Audio FM9

I’ve been using my Axe-Fx 3 for a while now. I can’t say I’ve discovered everything but I’m getting more and more acquainted with the Fractal user interface, and I’ve been exploring all the amazing flexibility their units offer. So, I thought the FM9 would be a great addition because it’s a floorboard model that is far more portable, but the learning curve wouldn’t be too bad because I’m already somewhat used to the Fractal way of doing things.

The processing power of the FM9 is not the same as the other Fractal units. You can find a lot of detail on this topic if you just search for it online, but briefly put, it has less power than that of the Axe-FX 3 and more than the FM3.

Overall, the FM9 is a phenomenal amp modeler. I love my FM3 as well and I’ve gained a lot of flexibility with an FC-6 paired with it. And if you want a smaller unit and you are okay not carrying around the FC6, then the FM3 will still be a great addition to your equipment. While the FM9 is, of course, bigger than the FM3, I think the benefits are too good to ignore. You get more footswitches than the FM3 and you don’t even need an FC unit. You also get a more powerful unit as the FM9 can handle more complex presets than the FM3. I haven’t had a Fractal unit that disappointed me yet. There is tons I still have to discover but once you start getting to know the interface, you see why so many revere the Fractal Audio modelers.

The post Gear Summary of 2021 appeared first on Mega-Depth.

Caged Wolves – Act of Nature Beyond Control (2021)

Coming to us from the cultural hub of Vienna, this is the third release from Caged Wolves, following their back-to-back studio and live EPs in 2019. This time around, the band brings three songs to the table, each settling in the eight to ten minute range, working a mix of desert rock, doom metal, and alternative approaches to each.

First of the tunes is “Cosmic Rage”, which kicks off on a psychedelic groove with some phasing guitar over heavy rolling drums. Settling into a slow-moving but powerful groove which hangs around for much of the song’s remainder, the band counterpoints it with bursts of glowering energy, punching up the vocals right alongside the strings and drums. The vocalist is gracious enough to bow out for a stretch, letting the listener soak in some instrumental interactions as they gradually build to a crescendo, leading to a real banger of a climax. “Chronos” follows, leading with an interesting intro finger-picking and rim percussion before sliding to an almost wistful arrangement. They put the high-energy bursts of the opening track to work again here, but raise the time spent in those outbursts each time, making for a cool study in alternation of their intensity. Thankfully, there’s enough emotion put into the slower portions that they don’t lose the thread, though the momentum does get stretched pretty far. Again, the climax delivers on the build-up, and the band shows some striking chemistry in the way they riff off of each other in this one’s release.

Lastly, “Through the Rainbow Valley” introduces itself by pulling out a blanket of fuzz for the strings, which, along with the fatness of the ensuing riffs, shifts things deep into Kyuss territory. As the band shifts their way back out along the course of the song, the psychedelic and prog elements get turned way up, culminating in a fantastically shagged-out roar. Oh, and then you get all three songs again, in instrumental form. The persistent quality of the songs is a testament to the work that this crew has been putting in since their last releases, and it certainly pays off nicely. Great song-writing and powerful playing, well worth checking out for anyone in the mood for something with some heavy music to take them away for a while.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Acid Rooster, Broughton’s Rules, Don Caballero, Fatso Jetson, Frozen Planet….1969

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Caged Wolves – Chronos (320 kbps)

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The Slow Death – Siege (2021)

Hailing from Australia, this death/doom quintet has some common ground leading up to their current incarnation. Not only is this the fourth non-split album to come from The Slow Death, but three of the members are also in Horrisonous and Illimitable Dolor, with the two vocalists (one of whom also handles keyboards) having been plucked from Muskrat and Oracle of the Void. With the shared history between the main instrumental members, you’d expect to find this project approached with a strong sense of purpose, and just from glancing at the track times, that suspicion seems borne out. Totaling just over an hour, split between four songs, it’s clear that the band has their ambitions set high,

Opening track “Tyranny” leads into its body with a lush intro, strings and keys drifting over each other in a dreamlike softness. Of course, it’s not too long before a harder edge shows itself, as the bassist steps in with a staunch riff and gliding resonance, eventually joined by faster guitar and one of the vocalists (Mandy Andresen), who provides an earthy vibe not dissimilar from early Windhand or Jess And The Ancient Ones. That warm vibe is counter-balanced by the deeper growls from second vocalist Gamaliel, allowing the band to give a more human than usual manifestation of the death/doom contrast. Where Andresen’s vocals might be put against chugging guitar, Gamaliel’s might find some lightly plucked acoustic string backing, and so on. It’s a clever and compelling approach to the music, but even beyond that clear hook, the songs are structured with care. Lengthy as they are, the numerous sections within the songs manage to avoid dragging. Instead, there’s both emotion to savor in the moment, and the anticipation of the next shift, with the assorted movements flowing smoothly into one another.

The band also brings a pleasing variety of tonal and timbral qualities. Even within the opening track, the guitars shift their moody presences around from menacing, to meditative, to mournful, and more. While there’s not the sort of overt time signature jumping and staggered rhythmic play that might make your mind jump to prog, there’s certainly some progressive spirit animating the musicians’ approach to the song-writing. Take “Famine”, for example, which alternates a rolling, almost Iron Maiden-ish rhythmic pull (down-shifted to doom gear, of course) with slower, more somber sections. Not a new trick for doom, but the band deploys it wonderfully, returning to the harder riff each time with increased ferocity, chewing right through the song’s thirteen minutes. Even if you’re not intent on picking apart the songcraft, it’s easy to sink into their deep grooves and savor the work put into them. All together, it’s an excellent and impressive piece of work. If you’re in search of thoughtfully crafted doom, don’t let this one go unheard.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Bell Witch, The Fateful Hour, Heavydeath, Ksyatriya, Ufomammut

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The Slow Death – Famine

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Black Wound – To the Endless Depths (2021)

On the physical release of their debut EP, the Swedish trio of Black Wound serve up a heady mix of death and doom metal. Despite their young ages (with a drummer who’s currently 17), the band has a solid lock on the style and substance, delivering music with enough dark potency to shame groups twice their age.

Opening track “Absence of Will” jumps right into their swampy stew of deep bass riffs, growling vocals, and clanging percussion, with abrupt time signature and tempo change-ups meshing into the grim gurgles and noisome grooves. “From Eternity and Beyond” continues the intense outpouring, with the clangor of the cymbals rolling against the buzzy fuzz and submerged howls. All the while, they keep up some hooky rhythms, pulling listeners along through the surface-level chaos and into the sunken structuring. It also features one of their more memorable breaks, with a desolate-sounding solo taking advantage of the speed and separation contrasts.

“Unending Labyrinth” carries on with more of a classic death metal groove, though it’s one which lets the drummer really flex and showcase his chops. Meanwhile, the guitarist goes hard in on his riffing, with a circling progression that suits the track title. “Lurker of the Threshold / Dweller of the Depths” brings a touch of Lovecraft to the imagery, though it doesn’t alter the flavor of the music itself in any drastic way. Some extensive tone sustain fits with the monstrous depths and distance ideas of the title (at over seven minutes, this is also the EP’s longest excursion). Then it’s on into closing track “Traitor”, which shifts back into a more focused grind to match the succinct title. It’s one of the cleaner-sounding tunes on the EP, with another stand-out solo freed from the ambient din that marks most of the songs found here. All together, it’s a damn impressive first work from any band in the death/doom cross-pollination, with heaviness and brutality overflowing. Here’s to the arrival of Black Wound, with hopes that their next release arrives soon.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Coffin Lurker, Fleshpress, Heavydeath, Leechfeast, Primitive Man

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Black Wound – Unending Labyrinth (320 kbps)

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Big Smile Revival – The Universal Veil (2021)

Coming at us from the Bristol region of the UK with this, their debut EP, the trio of Big Smile Revival balance retro psych rock leanings with some more modern rock rough ‘n’ tumble looseness.

Lead track “Sacred Mushroom” lays in a choice sample before sliding into a warm groove, which finds its way into bigger, faster, and rowdier forms as the group gets down with it. Staying instrumental, they keep the focus on the tones, rhythms, and interplay, and turn out a high-charged piece of cool exploration as a result. As the move into “Divided Kind”, a bit of a twist on pub rock rhythms sneaks its way in, spiked with enough grungy attitude to turn it on its ear. This song also brings in the vocals, which merge with the grumbly fuzz to great effect, dipping into and rising out of it as the harmony keeps moving. A tasty guitar solo gives it that much more kick, and keeps the energy up as the EP moves to its second half.

“Amhran Siog (Fairy Song)” gives a big nod to the group’s regional roots, and while there is some starry-eyed folksiness to the acoustic guitar lead-in, and accompanying lightness of the vocals, BSR tap back into the straight-out rock before they lose momentum. That play with contrasts fuels the rest of the song, with the band taking alternating scoops from each, and the clearer sections put a bigger spotlight on the band’s lyrical facility. Closing things out, “The Helm” indulges in some tonal lushness, riding the listener in on echoing guitar chords, with the same effect giving the vocals a spacy vibe. There’s a wistful quality to the playing on this last track, pushing the band’s emotional position out from the mass of the EP’s rock-out approach. It’s a nice show of their range, and the slowed tempo is given enough change-up in the breaks to keep it from turning into a closing lullaby. All together, great work from this group on their first outing, and enough quality across the songs to have me eagerly awaiting their next release.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Fossil, Frozen Planet….1969, The Heavy Co., Pale Grey Lore, Vanilla Trainwreck

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Big Smile Revival – Sacred Mushroom

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